ISIS Blows Up Church Of The Virgin Mary In Mosul As Terrorist Group ‘Aims To Wipe Out Christianity’

ISIS is continuing its attack on Christians in Iraq after blowing up the Virgin Mary Church in Mosul, which had once served as a sanctuary for the remaining Christians in the region.

A source said the attack took place this weekend in Iraq’s Nineveh province. Sources say the group used improvised explosive devices to blow up the church, which had been used by the terrorist group to house some leaders of European, Arab, and East Asian origin.

“On Thursday evening, elements of the ISIS group detonated the Virgin Mary Church north of Mosul using improvised explosive devices,” a source told IraqiNews.

“The ISIS elements used the church as their headquarters for leaders of European, Arab and East Asian nationalities to live there.”

“The explosion destroyed the Church entirely,” the source added.

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“ISIS has a stated goal to wipe out Christianity,” said Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice and the author of Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore.

“This why they are crucifying Christians — including children — destroying churches and selling artifacts. The fact is, this group will stop at nothing to raise funds for its terrorist mission.”

In both Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is literally hunting and killing Assyrian Christians. Just this week, dozens of these Christians in Syria were captured by the Islamic State; their fate remains unknown. Who are these people facing persecution?

Michael Holtz, at The Christian Science Monitor, examines the long history of these Christians.

"Alternatively known as Syriac, Nestorian, or Chaldean Christians, they trace their roots back more than 6,500 years to ancient Mesopotamia, predating the Abrahamic religions. For 1,800 years the Assyrian empire dominated the region, establishing one of most advanced civilizations in the ancient world.

The Assyrian empire collapsed in 612 B.C. during the rise of the Persians. Then, 600 years later, they became among the earliest converts to Christianity. They still speak an endangered form of Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, and consider themselves the last indigenous people of Syria and Iraq.

Following the birth of Christianity, Assyrian missionaries spread across Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Pacific, and built a new empire that lasted until Arab Muslims swept through the Middle East in 630.

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St. Augustine: “The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."

… and the barbarians RAGE ON … more destruction ofpriceless artifacts from the dawn of history near MOSUL.The IRAQ/IRAN coalition armies approach the area fora 'final' showdown … pray for their success.

BAGHDAD (AP) - Islamic State militants "bulldozed" the renowned archaeological site of the ancient city of Nimrud in northern Iraq on Thursday using heavy military vehicles, the government said.

A statement from Iraq's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities didn't elaborate on the extent of the damage, saying only that the group continues to "defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity" with this latest act, which came after an attack on the Mosul museum just days earlier.

The destruction of the site of one of ancient Mesopotamia's greatest cities recalled the Taliban's annihilation of large Buddha statues in Afghanistan more than a dozen years ago, experts said.

Nimrud was the second capital of Assyria, an ancient kingdom that began in about 900 B.C., partially in present-day Iraq, and became a great regional power. The city, which was destroyed in 612 B.C., is located on the Tigris River just south of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, which was captured by the Islamic State group in June.

The late 1980s discovery of treasures in Nimrud's royal tombs was one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds. After Iraq was invaded in 2003, archaeologists were relieved when they were found hidden in the country's central Bank - in a secret vault-inside-a-vault submerged in sewage water.

The Islamic State extremists, who control a third of Iraq and Syria, have attacked other archaeological and religious sites, claiming that they promote apostasy. Earlier this week, a video emerged on militant websites showing Islamic State militants with sledgehammers destroying ancient artifacts at the Mosul museum, sparking global outrage.

"What was left on site was stunning in the information it was able to convey about ancient life,” she added, “People have compared it to [ancient Egyptian] King [Tutankhamun’s] tomb," Bott said.

The extremists are intentionally destroying the heritage of Iraqi people, believes Jack Green, chief curator of the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago and an expert on Iraqi art.

"It's the deliberate destruction of a heritage and its images, intended to erase history and the identity of the people of Iraq, whether in the past or the present," he said. "And it has a major impact on the heritage of the region."

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St. Augustine: “The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."

One of the gravest casualties of the 10-year US-led war in Iraq is the destruction of the country’s cultural heritage, Iraqi archaeologist and architect Ihsan Fathi told RT.

On top of thousands of looted or illegally obtained cultural artifacts during the war, billions of dollars have also been transferred out of “Iraq’s Central banks to US without any paper trail.”

“I’m sure that everything that was stored in the Central and other banks was sent to the US without any documentation and now is kept in archives,” Fathi said. “Huge amounts of documents representing historical importance that cannot be assigned a monetary value were taken by the US.”

And all attempts to reclaim the country’s stolen treasures failed: “The Iraqi government was trying to get them back but the American Administration wanted to strike a deal and return only half of the documents,” he explained.

The Iraqi architect estimated there are about “35,000 small and large items missing from the National Museum of Iraq… The Iraqi museum, for example, was plundered before their very eyes. The plundering lasted for three days without the occupation forces stepping in at all.”

Also, in cities like Babylon artifacts were damaged after Polish troops took over the area and “used heavy armor, tanks and helicopters” for “construction work for their military infrastructure … and seriously damaged many archeological sites in the area.”

RT: Mr. Ihsan Fethi, you witnessed the looting of Iraqi cultural treasures. Everybody knows what was happening in Iraq after the American occupation. What will be the consequences of all this for Iraq’s culture?

Ihsan Fethi: As you know, our civilization originated on the territories where Iraq is now. We have historic landmarks that are over 10,000 years old. And everybody thinks that Iraq is responsible for preserving this cultural heritage. But unfortunately, Iraq is the world leader in having destruction visited on its historic sites. This destruction started during the Mongol invasion in 1258 and continued all the way to the 20th century, when the Iraqi state was formed. We’ve suffered great losses.

During the 1991 occupation, the Americans reached the suburbs of Hillah. Many of the museums in the city were looted, and the US forces just let that happened. But even more damage was done in 2003, when Iraq was occupied. I will not talk about the nature of that operation right now – whether that campaign was to liberate or occupy our country. It surprises me that some intellectuals in Iraq still refuse to call this campaign an occupation. The UN Security Council resolution #1483, passed on May 22, 2003, calls the international military contingency in Iraq occupying forces. This was the official status of the international coalition. This was an occupation.

Prior to the occupation a number of international organizations – including those for protection of archaeological sites which are responsible for preserving these very sites – had officially informed the USA and President Bush in particular, that as a consequence, the cultural and historical heritage of Iraq might be found in deplorable state. Among cultural advisers to President Bush there were four experts who were suggesting that the preservation of Iraqi historical and cultural landmarks should have been his priority task.

RT: Still, the US allowed the looting of Iraqi historical landmarks, or maybe even gave a spur to this. Can you tell us the exact number of looted sites if there is such information at all?

IF: This is a frequently asked question, too, and the answer is clear to me. People who were in charge of Iraqi museums didn’t have any detailed lists or catalogues that would enroll all cultural and historical monuments and antiquities. In particular, it refers to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, which is regarded as one of the world’s largest and most important museums. The museum items should have been inspected annually, but unfortunately, the inspection was either not carried out at all, or it was not full. That is why we can’t define the exact number of stolen artifacts. However, some experts tend to think that there are about 35,000 small and large items missing from the National Museum of Iraq.

RT: And they haven’t been regained, right?

IF: To our regret, only a small portion has been returned. Valuable artifacts are always looted when there is a conflict and the atmosphere of chaos reigns. And international experience has proven that at best only 10 percent of them are usually regained.

RT: The former regime is considered to have taken special care of rare gold artifacts and gold bars, which were of great importance. Were these items stolen, too?

IF: A great number of gold artifacts and gold bars were kept in some palaces of the former president. This gold has been misappropriated. Iraqi authorities had no idea about the amount of the stolen antiquities. In addition, large amounts of currency have been also misappropriated. The country’s Central banks and other banks had accounted for billions of dollars, and now all these funds have been transferred to the USA without any paper trail.

And this does not refer only to the objects of value. They have also moved out of the country tons of documents that captured the history of Iraq. These documents are priceless. All that gold is nothing compared to those historical documents that are now locked up somewhere in a US archive. The government of Iraq has attempted to return these documents home, but the Americans are trying to make a deal here and offer to return only half of the documents. The reason they are giving is that they are trying to repair the documents from the presidential palace and Iraqi special services archives, but no one knows the true story behind this.

Also, a lot of documents have been moved from the Foreign Ministry and state security agencies to the US by Adnan Makiya, with the help of the occupation authorities – allegedly for the Iraq Memory Foundation. This operation had been planned long before the war. We have the information that these documents were sold to one of the American universities. Things like this should not be allowed to happen.

RT: Is it true that there are some valuable Jewish manuscripts among the misappropriated documents, including one of the oldest copies of Torah, which is now said to be in Israel?

IF: Yes, there are some documents in the stolen archives that belonged to Iraq’s Jewish community. Some of these centuries-old documents are now in the USA. According to international regulations, the occupation authorities have no right to move local cultural and material values. On the contrary, it is their duty to preserve these values. Iraq must insist on its right to recover all of the illegally moved objects, down to the very smallest ones.

RT: So, Iraq has lost some valuable pieces of its cultural heritage under the conniving eye of the occupational authorities. But is it possible, on the other hand, that the present-day level of culture in the Iraqi society is insufficient to address the task of preserving Iraq’s historical heritage?

IF: Yes, of course. I would say that we should blame not just Iraqi people, but also trade unions and other civil society organizations for not taking necessary measures in order to preserve the great Iraqi heritage. Even archeologists didn’t do anything.

But interestingly, when the US occupation ended, some of Bush’s advisors resigned over the fact that the US and other countries didn’t do anything to preserve Iraqi historical sites. They were protecting objects like the Oil Ministry and others that were strategic to the US occupation forces. Even Americans themselves acknowledge that they are responsible for the destruction of many archeological sites, especially in Babylon. This city was first occupied by US forces, and later they handed it over to the Polish troops.

Several thousand Polish soldiers lived there, they used heavy armor, tanks and helicopters; they were doing construction work for their military infrastructure. This seriously damaged many archeological sites in the area. Later, the US occupation authorities offered a laughable amount of money – some $20 million – for the restoration of damaged archeological objects. Several years ago at a conference in Paris, I addressed some ranking State Department officials and demanded that the US provide at least $1 billion for the restoration of Iraqi historical buildings. But the US didn’t respond to that.

In many cases, Americans just allowed our museums to be looted. The National Museum was looted within three days. And Americans would not do a thing to keep the exhibits safe. That’s why Americans should take full responsibility for that.

This whole business is very disturbing … reminds meof the wholesale looting of Ancient Egyptian sitesduring the 19th Century. However, it must be said,that much of the ancient world WAS preservedeventually, largely by Western governments andUniversities who brought proper Archaeologicalmethods to those areas, helped create museums, etc.Western authorities, then and now, would argue thatremoval of artifacts during wartime is meant for theirsafe-keeping (LOL) … and much eventually finds it wayback to it's original areas when and if the area stabilizes.And of course, there is always looting by individuals (& govts) … spoils of war are one of the main reasons for war. But, this ISIS onslaught is in another league … viciousand wanton destruction of archaeological sites and ancientchurches, libraries, relics etc … a total world disaster.

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St. Augustine: “The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."

Welcome to Hell: ISIS hang bodies of 'soldiers' from entrance to the city where Syrian troops were paraded through streets in cages

* WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT* The gruesome scene believed to be from the northern-Iraqi city of Hawija* One man pictured next to the bodies appears to be notorious ISIS fighter Abu al-Rahman has been seen alongside the heads of decapitated Syrians* Caged Syrian soldiers were mercilessly paraded through that same city * ISIS are preparing to move headquarters there from stronghold in Mosul* US is currently training Iraqi soldiers to retake Iraq's second largest city

Iraqi authorities said that Islamic State extremists have demolished the remains of the ancient city of Hatra in the north of the country, following a “bulldozing” of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, also located close to Mosul.

Employees of the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have reported that the Hatra site, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1987, was destroyed on Saturday, an official told Reuters. It is hard to estimate the damage, as no images of the demolition have been received so far.

However, a local resident told Reuters that there was a powerful explosion early on Saturday, recalling other people’s reports that ISIS militants had already destroyed some of the larger constructions and were bulldozing others.

The Islamic State militants began carrying away artifacts from Hatra on Thursday – before starting to destroy the city on Saturday, Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdish official from Mosul, told AP.

The remains of Hatra’s massive fortifications and temple complex dated back to between the first century BC and the second century AD, and the city, founded in the days of the Seleucid Empire, a large Hellenistic state, was about two kilometers in diameter. Hatra is located about 110km (68 miles) south-west of Mosul, which currently is the largest city controlled by ISIS.

ISIL Claims DoD Hacking, Marks 100 US Service Members for Assassination

22.03.2015

The so-called Islamic State, or ISIL, has named 100 US military service members to be killed. They have reportedly hacked into US defense systems and extracted the names, addresses and photos of specific members to target.

ISIL went to social media to call on "brothers residing in America" to kill the 100 service members, providing their details.

In the online posting, the group referred to itself as the "Islamic State Hacking Division." They claimed to have hacked military servers, databases and emails. They announced they were making the information public so that "lone wolf" attackers can kill them.

Defense officials have said that they could not confirm that the information had been hacked and the information could have been culled from public records.

Muslims nations that are under occuparion where "terrorists" are hunted for the most part have medieval economy. They are a bit wild, but they are nothing compared to anglo-american and eurasian players.

The problem with TV news "facts" is that everything can and is being forged for profit. As well as constant lying for the same egoistic reasons.

Muslims nations that are under occuparion where "terrorists" are hunted for the most part have medieval economy. They are a bit wild, but they are nothing compared to anglo-american and eurasian players.

The problem with TV news "facts" is that everything can and is being forged for profit. As well as constant lying for the same egoistic reasons.

Yes … the extreme terror methods these brutesare using is horrifying and non-human … andvery effective in instilling fear and disgust …… TERROR … which exactly why they do it!But, CaptO … you're right … in the past we EUROPEANShave been guilty of the same horrific methods to instillfear … in OUR OWN POPULATIONS:

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September 15, 2014

8 Things You May Not Know About the Guillotine

By Evan AndrewsOver some 200 years of use, the guillotine claimed the heads of tens of thousands of victims ranging from common criminals to revolutionaries, aristocrats and even kings and queens. More than just a gruesomely effective killing machine, “Saint Guillotine” served as a symbol of the French Revolution and cast an infamous shadow over much of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Below, learn eight surprising facts about the execution device once dubbed the “National Razor” of France.

Execution of Maximillien Robespierre, July 28, 1794

1. Its origins date back to the Middle Ages.The name “guillotine” dates to the 1790s and the French Revolution, but similar execution machines had already been in existence for centuries. A beheading device called the “planke” was used in Germany and Flanders during the Middle Ages, and the English had a sliding axe known as the Halifax Gibbet, which may have been lopping off heads all the way back to antiquity. The French guillotine was likely inspired by two earlier machines: the Renaissance-era “mannaia” from Italy, and the notorious “Scottish Maiden,” which claimed the lives of some 120 people between the 16th and 18th centuries. Evidence also shows that primitive guillotines may have been in use in France long before the days of the French Revolution.

2. It was originally developed as a more humane method of execution.The origins of the French guillotine date back to late-1789, when Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed that the French government adopt a gentler method of execution. Although he was personally opposed to capital punishment, Guillotin argued that decapitation by a lightning-quick machine would be more humane and egalitarian than sword and axe beheadings, which were often botched. He later helped oversee the development of the first prototype, an imposing machine designed by French doctor Antoine Louis and built by a German harpsichord maker named Tobias Schmidt. The device claimed its first official victim in April 1792, and quickly became known as the “guillotine”—much to the horror of its supposed inventor. Guillotin tried to distance himself from the machine during the guillotine hysteria of the 1790s, and his family later unsuccessfully petitioned the French government to change its name in the early 19th century.

Mass French beheadings

3. Guillotine executions were major spectator events.During the Reign of Terror of the mid-1790s, thousands of “enemies of the French revolution” met their end by the guillotine’s blade. Some members of the public initially complained that the machine was too quick and clinical, but before long the process had evolved into high entertainment. People came to the place de la Revolution in droves to watch the guillotine do its grisly work, and the machine was honored in countless songs, jokes and poems. Spectators could buy souvenirs, read a program listing the names of the victims, or even grab a quick bite to eat at a nearby restaurant called “Cabaret de la Guillotine.” Some people attended on a daily basis, most famously the “Tricoteuses,” a group of morbid women who supposedly sat beside the scaffold and knitted in between beheadings. The theater even extended to the condemned. Many people offered sarcastic quips or defiant last words before being executed, and others danced their way up the steps of the scaffold. Fascination with the guillotine waned at the end of the 18th century, but public beheadings continued in France until 1939.

Guillotine, toy of the time of the French revolution, ca. 1794

4. It was a popular children’s toy.Children often attended guillotine executions, and some may have even played with their own miniature guillotines at home. During the 1790s, a two-foot-tall, replica blade-and-timbers was a popular toy in France. Kids used the fully operational guillotines to decapitate dolls or even small rodents, and some towns eventually banned them out of fear that they were a vicious influence. Novelty guillotines also found their way onto some upper class dinner tables, where they were used as bread and vegetable slicers.

5. Guillotine operators were national celebrities.As the fame of the guillotine grew, so too did the reputations of its operators. Executioners won a great deal of notoriety during the French Revolution, when they were closely judged on how quickly and precisely they could orchestrate multiple beheadings. The job was often a family business. Multiple generations of the famed Sanson family served as state executioner from 1792 to 1847, and were responsible for dropping the blade on King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, among thousands of others. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the role of chief headsman fell to Louis and Anatole Deibler, a father and son pair whose combined tenure extended from 1879 to 1939. People often chanted the Sansons’ and Deiblers’ names in the streets, and their choice of clothing on the scaffold was known to inspire fashion trends. Executioners were also a subject of morbid fascination in the criminal underworld. According to some accounts, gangsters and other hoods would get tattoos with grim slogans such as, “My Head Goes To Deibler.”

French Revolution

6. Scientists conducted gruesome studies on the heads of the condemned.From the very beginning of its use, speculation abounded over whether the heads of the guillotined remained conscious after being cut off. The debate reached new heights in 1793, when an assistant executioner slapped the face of one of his victims’ heads and spectators claimed to see its cheeks flush in anger. Doctors later asked the condemned to try to blink or leave one eye open after their execution to prove they could still move, and others yelled the deceased’s name or exposed their heads to candle flames and ammonia to see if they would react. In 1880, a doctor named Dassy de Lignieres even had blood pumped into the head of a guillotined child murderer to find out if it would come back to life and speak. The ghastly experiments were put to a stop in the 20th century, but studies on rats have since found that brain activity may continue for around four seconds after decapitation.

7. It was used for executions in Nazi Germany.The guillotine is most famously associated with revolutionary France, but it may have claimed just as many lives in Germany during the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler made the guillotine a state method of execution in the 1930s, and ordered that 20 of the machines be placed in cities across Germany. According to Nazi records, the guillotine was eventually used to execute some 16,500 people between 1933 and 1945, many of them resistance fighters and political dissidents.

Versailles, 1939

8. It was last used in the 1970s.The guillotine remained France’s state method of capital punishment well into the late 20th century. Convicted murderer Hamida Djandoubi became the last person to meet his end by the “National Razor” after he was executed by the guillotine in 1977. Still, the machine’s 189-year reign only officially came to an end in September 1981, when France abolished capital punishment for good.

“Some of the oldest Christian communities in the world are disappearing in the very lands where their faith was born and first took root …

The New Exodus: Christians Flee ISIS in the Middle EastBY JANINE DI GIOVANNI AND CONOR GAFFEY / MARCH 26, 2015

"These latest horrors build on the prejudice, discrimination and oppression that over the past few decades have steadily reduced the proportion of Christians in the Middle East from around 20 percent at the start of the 20th century to around 5 percent now. Less than 1 percent of the world’s more than 2 billion Christians live in the Middle East, and there are fears that number could dwindle even further.

“This is the land of Christ, but without Christians here, it is like having the stones without the spirit—having all the churches here but without the spirit of the people.

Peace, who profits from it,, all of us.It's back to the dark ages and holy wars...Who funds these freaks, where did they get the $$$, the armament, the intell. Bagdady ( ISIS big dog) was in a military prison for years, found to be a cheery fella, no risk, zip. Free as a bird......Go figure...

US drops gruesome anti-ISIL leaflet on SyriaSixty thousand copies of propaganda pamphlets dropped over Raqqa but experts question efficacy and tenor of the leaflet.

27 Mar 2015

The US military is dropping some gruesome propaganda on Syria.

On March 16 an F-15E fighter jet dropped 60,000 copies of the above leaflet on Raqqa, the base of operations for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

The image shows a "Daesh Employment Office" (Daesh is a pejorative nickname for ISIL in the Arab world).Two ISIL recruiters, one of whom appears more monster than man, feed young men into a meat grinder with "Daesh" written in blood on its side. A sign in the upper-right corner reads "Now Serving Number 6,001".

When asked about the intended message of the leaflet, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren, said "If you allow yourself to be recruited by Daesh, you will find yourself in a meat grinder."

Group previously filmed a Cornell University dean saying an ISIS 'freedom fighter' could host a training camp at the Ivy League school

* Catholic university officials caught on secret video approving student club devoted to raising money for ISIS, saying: 'We're here to get that done.'* Honors student set to receive communications award at Barry University in Miami told college officials she wanted to start a club to support ISIS* Student organizations chief told her she could get funding for group called 'Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria'* They are terrorists,' she told him, 'but we're trying to help them, we're trying to educate them and give them funding'* 'We're not here to limit people,' the university administrator replied, and agreed with her request to 'pass out Islamic State flags' at a school event* The VP for student affairs told Daily Mail Online, 'Barry University would not approve any group supporting a terrorist organization'* Project Veritas, a conservative group run by guerilla filmmaker James O'Keefe, made the startling video

Survivors say the masked gunmen singled out non-Muslim students and gunned them down without mercy as others ran for their lives....An attack by masked terrorists who stormed a university in eastern Kenya has left at least 147 people dead.

Around 80 more have been confirmed as wounded in the siege at Garissa University, which has now ended after the four attackers detonated their suicide vests.

The gunmen hurled grenades and fired automatic rifles as students were sleeping, shooting dead dozens before setting Muslims free and holding Christians and others hostage....Somalia's al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn attack, which is the country's deadliest since the US embassy bombings in 1998...Student Michael Bwana, who managed to flee, said most of those taken hostage were girls...."The gunmen were saying sisi ni al-Shabab (Swahili for we are al-Shabab).

"If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot....The militants, who have links to al Qaeda, have vowed to take retribution against Kenya for sending its troops to Somalia.

Al Shabaab was responsible for the deadly attack in 2013 on the Westgate shopping mall.

The US said it condemned the latest attack in the "strongest terms", while the British government pledged to continue to support Kenya in the country's battle against terrorism.

WASHINGTON -- From the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa, Christians are enduring attacks for their faith like never before.

"The persecution of Christians is real, it is horrifically violent often, and it is spreading at unprecedented rate in modern times," said Dr. David Curry, president of Open Doors, a group that monitors religious freedom worldwide.

Curry said Christians faced the most persecution for their faith in 2014 than any other year in recent history.

"We have seen the sharpest jump in violent attacks against Christians in the modern era," he said.

Open Doors reports that 4,344 Christians were killed for their faith in 2014 -- double the number in 2013.

"These aren't Christians who are collateral damage in a larger war; these are people who are targeted because they chose to worship Jesus and because they want to read a Bible and that's shocking," Curry said.

On Wednesday, the group released its annual World Watch List, ranking the top 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution.

North Korea topped the list again for the thirteenth year in a row, with some 70,000 Christians reportedly languishing in prison camps.

"The government has paranoia about any ideology which they see as a threat to their cult worship of their leader, and so they rank enemies of the state," Curry explained. "Christians are the No. 1 enemy of the state in North Korea."

But Curry said that in a majority of the countries, elements of one religion above all pose the greatest threat to Christians.

"Islamic extremism is driving force, is really the driving force in 40 of the top 50 countries on the World Watch List," he told CBN News.

The majority of the deaths last year happened in Nigeria, where kidnappings and murders by the Islamic group Boko Haram killed 2,484 Christians....

"So you have the Islamic State, their tactics, their methodology now being adopted by Boko Haram, by Al-Shabab and others, and so I think this means that, while this year was the worst ever, things look very troubling for years to come," Curry said....

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

One of the most respected journalists in the United States and the bestselling author of The Future Church uses his unparalleled knowledge of world affairs and religious insight to investigate the troubling worldwide persecution of Christians.

From Iraq and Egypt to Sudan and Nigeria, from Indonesia to the Indian subcontinent, Christians in the early 21st century are the world's most persecuted religious group. According to the secular International Society for Human Rights, 80 percent of violations of religious freedom in the world today are directed against Christians. In effect, our era is witnessing the rise of a new generation of martyrs. Underlying the global war on Christians is the demographic reality that more than two-thirds of the world's 2.3 billion Christians now live outside the West, often as a beleaguered minority up against a hostile majority-- whether it's Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, Hindu radicalism in India, or state-imposed atheism in China and North Korea. In Europe and North America, Christians face political and legal challenges to religious freedom. Allen exposes the deadly threats and offers investigative insight into what is and can be done to stop these atrocities.

“This book is about the most dramatic religion story of the early 21st century, yet one that most people in the West have little idea is even happening: The global war on Christians,” writes John Allen. “We’re not talking about a metaphorical ‘war on religion’ in Europe and the United States, fought on symbolic terrain such as whether it’s okay to erect a nativity set on the courthouse steps, but a rising tide of legal oppression, social harassment and direct physical violence, with Christians as its leading victims. However counter-intuitive it may seem in light of popular stereotypes of Christianity as a powerful and sometimes oppressive social force, Christians today indisputably form the most persecuted religious body on the planet, and too often its new martyrs suffer in silence.”

This book looks to shatter that silence.

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

“Understanding and responding to Christian persecution: Why in 2015, abuse of believers “is only going to worsen around the world”

CHRISTIAN MARTYRDOM IS BACK – WITH A VENGEANCENew in-depth report shows ISIS just tip of the iceberg

For most Americans, images of first-century Christian persecution – believers meeting furtively in remote houses with doors bolted tight, some preaching boldly in public and being dragged off to prison, others captured and paraded as spectacle to be crucified for sport by rulers like Nero – are familiar to us only through watching biblical movie epics.

Yet such is the harsh reality confronting millions of Christian believers – men, women and children – in many parts of our world, right now, in the 21st century.

In North Korea, thousands of Christians and their families are imprisoned in penal labor camps, with up to 80 executed last year for possessing Bibles and similar “transgressions.” In Sudan, hundreds of Christian women and girls are flogged annually for “indecent dress,” though what constitutes indecent dress is not defined by law. Iran raids church services and threatens believers, punishing Christians with prolonged detention, torture and executions – with some 400 Christians detained throughout the country since 2010, including Iranian-born American pastor Saeed Abedini.

Even America’s “allies” are home to outrageous persecution of Christians: In Egypt, at least seven Coptic Christians were killed and more than 200 churches and other Christian buildings, homes and businesses recently attacked. In Pakistan, Christian women and girls experience violence daily, many targeted for rape, sexual abuse and kidnapping, and a mob beat and burned to death a Christian couple last year for alleged “blasphemy.”In Saudi Arabia, not a single Christian church is allowed to exist in the entire country.

What about emerging superpower China – on which the U.S. government relies financially, and Americans rely for a large share of manufactured goods they purchase? Christians face the “worst persecution since the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong,” explains Bob Fu, former leader of the student movement crushed by the Tiananmen Square massacre and now a Christian underground church pastor. “There has been forced demolition, the removal of crosses, over 300 churches have been attacked and government sanctioned church pastors sentenced to 12 years in prison.” One pastor who dared even question authorities about the forced removal of the crosses was sentenced to prison, and a court recently sentenced two Christian bookstore owners to five and two years’ imprisonment for “illegal business operations.” Adds Fu, “Multiple believers have been attacked and hospitalized, and thousands of police were mobilized to attack a church. That has not been seen since the time of the Cultural Revolution. It’s overwhelming.”

Nevertheless – and here emerges the other, redemptive theme of this issue of Whistleblower – Fu expresses optimism about the long-term future of the Chinese church, noting that despite 60 years of persecution, the number of Christians has grown from less than 1 million to more than 100 million.

That’s right, around the world, amid the violence, persecution, civil war and mass death, a growing number of people are converting to a belief in Christ.

… the KENYAN massacre, more HELLfrom the MUSLIM Al Shabaab who havebeen brutally slaughtering Christiansfor a long time:

This is the jihad on Christians that is raging all around the world wherever Muslims make for sizable populations—the jihad that will eventually go viral in the West according to Islam’s unwavering Rule of Numbers.

"In fact, Al Shabaab has a long history of singling Christians out from among Muslims for slaughter. The following are just a few examples from Kenya that took place in the last few months, most never reported on any mainstream media:

* December 2, 2014: Al Shabaab gunmen launched an early morning raid on quarry workers sleeping in their worksite tents near the city of Mandera, along the Somali border. Christians and Muslims were separated before the Christians, thirty-six of them, were beheaded or shot dead.

* June 15, 2014: Approximately 50 militants from Al Shabaab went on a killing spree in Mpeketoni, a predominantly Christian town on Kenya’s coast. They chanted “Allahu Akbar,” killed whoever could not recite verses from the Koran, and went door-to-door asking residents their religion, killing those who answered “Christian.”More than 57 people were killed, including six children of church pastors.

The only time in Kenya that Muslim jihadis do not inquire about the religious identity of their potential victims is when they attack churches—such as when they set fire to Covenant Church and roasted Christians alive (they destroyed a Catholic church on the same night);

The logic is that whoever is inside a church—visiting Muslim or practicing Christian, man, woman, or child—deserves death without question.

Separating Muslims from “infidels” and releasing the former occurs with great frequency during jihadi attacks and is hardly limited to Al Shabaab’s incursions in Kenya (inasmuch as it is good to kill an infidel, it is bad to kill a fellow Muslim, according to Islamic law).

Thirteen of the 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded last February in Libya were abducted in similar fashion. On January 3, around 2:30 a.m., masked men burst into a housing complex in Sirte, Libya. They went room to room checking ID cards to separate Muslims from Christians, handcuffed the latter and rode off with them. According to Hanna Aziz, a Copt who was concealed in his room when the other Christians were seized in Libya, “While checking IDs, Muslims were left aside while Christians were grabbed…. I heard my friends screaming but they were quickly shushed at gunpoint. After that, we heard nothing.”

Last October 2012 in Nigeria, Boko Haram Islamic jihadis stormed the Federal Polytechnic College, “separated the Christian students from the Muslim students, addressed each victim by name, questioned them, and then proceeded to shoot them or slit their throat,” killing up to 30 Christians.

Christianity’s tent is not big enough to accommodate both the supporters of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper, who in a Wednesday piece for Salon blasted both the state’s pre-fix RFRA and the religious right in general.

“This kind of legislation is rooted in a politics that gives white people the authority to police and terrorize people of color, queer people and poor women,” declared Cooper. “That means these people don’t represent any kind of Christianity that looks anything like the kind that I practice…This white, blond-haired, blue-eyed, gun-toting, Bible-quoting Jesus of the religious right is a god of their own making. I call this god, the god of white supremacy and patriarchy...This God isn’t the God that I serve…He might be ‘biblical’ but he’s also an asshole.”

Brittney Cooper

Cooper argued that left-wing Christians “need to reclaim the narrative of Jesus’ life and death” from Christian conservatives, who “have not been good stewards over the narrative. They have pimped Jesus’ death to support the global spread of American empire vis-à-vis war, ‘missions,’ and ‘free trade,’ the abuse of native peoples, the continued subjugation of Black people, and the regulation of the sexual lives of women and gay people. Let us mark this Holy Week by declaring the death to the unholy trinity of white supremacist, capitalist, heteropatriarchy. And once these systems die, may they die once and for all, never to be resurrected.”

well killing commies for jesus ,the slave trade ,the crusades,and dont forget the founding farthers them pesky native north american indians .its no surprise to me that alot of people around the world are completly pissed off

I totaly get where you are coming from . So lets get this right the north american indians are thanking you and jesus for saving them from them selves . as for your comment about killing commies for jesus thats BS its as true now as when said

Haven't religious wars been nurtured a bit to long. If anyone is truly convinced this is strictly Christians being killed I'd like some feedback.Of course it sickens me Christians are being slaughtered,BUT who is backing these freaks unchained, the brains behind it, the funding, the armament.. Not long ago Al Qaeda was the dark force, now the regime seems to be getting freindly with em. How much longer are we to be fed this sh**t..

I think the religious question is not at issue AS FAR AS our govtis concerned … they love just having everybody blow each otherup … Xian & Muslim & Jew … it's the CHAOS and destruction thatfurthers their agenda. However, on a larger timeframe, it is partof a long-term MILLENNIAL Relgious War or struggle … can't get around it … and I don't apologize for being on the Christian side.

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St. Augustine: “The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."

Like any religion, there are charlatans who use it as a cover, con artist feeding on peoples faith, fanatics without self identity given into the void, and last but not least the true and faithfull believers. The Christ's message was purity personified, that it has been used by Gov's and fakes to control is obvious. Dude , your in the right place, you want the truth , to me that is soul. Our minds are susceptible to dipping, not our souls.

… great post CJ … totally agree. And those salt-of-the-EarthChristians who are being so brutally murdered/beheadedin the Mid East today, simply for their love of Christ, by theseNWO-run Muslim hordes are the Saintly martyrs of our time.

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St. Augustine: “The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."

Francis walked in the dark down an utterly silent St. Peter's Basilica at the start of the vigil Mass, which precedes the joyous celebration on Easter Sunday commemorating Christ's resurrection after his crucifixion.

In his homily, Francis said the Easter mystery requires the faithful to seek an answer "to the questions which challenge our faith, our fidelity, and our very existence."

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On Friday, during the Via Crucis procession at Rome's Colosseum, Francis denounced the "complicit silence" of the international community before the massacres of Christians in many parts of the world by Islamic extremists. The latest was the Kenya university attack by al-Qaida-affiliated Somali militants that left nearly 150 people dead, many of them Christians.

Like any religion, there are charlatans who use it as a cover, con artist feeding on peoples faith, fanatics without self identity given into the void, and last but not least the true and faithfull believers. The Christ's message was purity personified, that it has been used by Gov's and fakes to control is obvious. Dude , your in the right place, you want the truth , to me that is soul. Our minds are susceptible to dipping, not our souls.

Thanks chris I dont want a fallout with anyone on PP . I am just trying to seek a balanced view on the subject

Francis walked in the dark down an utterly silent St. Peter's Basilica at the start of the vigil Mass, which precedes the joyous celebration on Easter Sunday commemorating Christ's resurrection after his crucifixion.

In his homily, Francis said the Easter mystery requires the faithful to seek an answer "to the questions which challenge our faith, our fidelity, and our very existence."

No papal offense intended, I find it difficult to understand why the pope doesn't mention the 1/2 million slaughtered in Iraq. Just saying, innocents slaughtered of any denomination, baby's, children, mothers..to me.....is SIN INC, why not mention this as well.. Not knocking the pope, just a question..If he has mentioned the specific abominations perpetrated by the elite's regime, I would appreciate someone posting them. Thanks. (I got a hangup about innocents genocided)